ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball teams continues to roll through conference play, extending their winning streak to 13 straight games. They took down Penn State Altoona 71-44 for the second time in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate College (AMCC) action Saturday afternoon.
The Behrend Lions (17-1, 12-1 AMCC) stuck to their very effective game plan of creating a large lead early and letting their defense take over from there, not giving the Altoona Lions (4-13, 3-10 AMCC) any thought of coming back.
Behrend gave up their second fewest amount of points this season (44), which is well below their 59.4 points per game allowed average that has the Behrend Lions ranked third in the country.
The three ball was a big factor in Behrend's success on Saturday. They shot 40.0 percent (12-30) from deep and almost everyone got in on the action.
Mike Fischer (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) made a career-high four, Malquan Pullium (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) dropped three, Andy Niland (Fairview, PA/Fairview) and Justin Gorny (South Park, PA/South Park) each drained two and Connor McLaughlin (Ashtabula, OH/Edgewood) added one more.
As for Niland, McLaughlin and Fischer, all of their made baskets were from behind the arc. Niland finished with eight points and five assists. McLaughlin matched his rebounds to his points with three each and Fisher ended his night with 12 points, two boards and two assists.
Pullium and Zane Hackett (Brookville, PA/Brookville) led the Behrend Lions to victory tonight, despite the effective offensive output from the others. Pullium scored 14 points and brought down a game-high eight rebounds, adding three assists and three steals. Hackett had a game-high 16 points and secured seven rebounds.
As a team, four players scored in double figures for the eighth time this season, moving them to 8-0 in those games. They also move to 8-0 when they shoot above 40.0 percent from the field after a 42.3 percent performance Saturday.
Behrend started building their lead early against Altoona. A 5-0 run to open the contest, followed by a monster dunk by Hackett, posterizing a Altoona Lion defender, really set the tone to show how this game was play out.
Three minutes later, in a 10-9 game, Behrend broke out a 15-2 run to open up a sound lead. Then, with just under seven minutes left in the half, the Behrend Lions closed the half on a 13-2 run to seal a 22-point advantage going into the halftime break.
The second half was more of the same in Behrend's story. They built off of their big halftime lead and shut down the opposing defense just as they have done in each of the four games. The Behrend Lions build their lead to 31 points just over midway through the period, but finished the game up 27.
Behrend never trailed in the contest, asserting their dominance right from the start. They close the month of January with a perfect 11-0 record and move into their final six regular season games riding big wave of momentum.
The Lions are back at home on Wednesday in non-conference action against Alfred State with a 7 p.m. start.
